ICTINIA. 225 



America (except "West Indies), north to South Carolina, southern Illinois (casual ?), 

 and central California 328. E. leucurus (Vieill.). White-tailed Kite. 



Genus ICTINIA Vieillot. (Page 222, pi. LXV., fig. 3.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adults : Uniform plumbeous, becoming lighter (whitish) 

 on head and darker (blackish) on quills and tail ; inner webs of quills partly rufous. 

 Young : Lower parts whitish, striped with brown ; upper parts varied with whitish 

 and brown ; tail crossed by several narrow whitish bands. 



a^. Adult : Wings lighter than tail, the secondaries hoary whitish ; inner webs of 

 quills with indistinct spots of rufous, and outer webs with very indistinct 

 stripe of the same ; tail without white markings. Young : Head, neck, and 

 lower parts white, sometimes tinged with buff (especially on thighs), longi- 

 tudinally spotted or striped with brown; upper parts blackish brown, the 

 feathers margined terminally with whitish, and with concealed spots of the 

 same; tail blackish, crossed by several (about three exposed) narrow bands 

 of dusky grayish, this changing to white on inner webs ; under wing-coverts 

 buffy, spotted with rusty. Length 13.00-15.50, wing 10.60-12.30, tail 6.00- 

 7.00. Nest in tops of trees, usually near rivers. Eggs 2-3, 1.63 X 1-32, white 

 usually sparsely and very faintly marked (adventitiously stained?) with pale 

 brownish. Hab. More southern United States, east of Eocky Mountains, 

 north regularly to Georgia, southern Illinois, Kansas, etc., casually, or irregu- 

 larly, to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa ; south, through eastern Mexico, 

 to Guatemala 329. I. mississippiensis (Wils.). Mississippi Kite. 



a^. Adult : Wing concolor with the tail, the secondaries black ; inner webs of pri- 

 maries almost wholly rufous, the outer webs with only a trace of this color ; 

 tail with about three narrow bands of white, across inner webs. Young : 

 Above blackish, the feathers bordered terminally with white ; head, neck, 

 and lower parts whitish, striped with blackish. Wing 10.50-12.20, tail 5.60- 

 6.80. Hab. Tropical America (except West Indies), north to southern 

 Mexico, south to Paraguay. 



I. plumbea (Gmel.). Plumbeous Kite.^ 



Genus ROSTRHAMUS Lesson. (Page 222, pi. LXV., fig. 4.) 



Species. 



Adult : Uniform slate-color, becoming nearly black on quills and tail, the wing- 

 coverts inclining to brownish gray, the head and neck with more or less of a glau- 

 cous or chalky cast, the former nearly black anteriorly ; tail-coverts and base of tail 

 white ; tip of tail light grayish brown ; bill black ; cere and feet rich orange or 

 orange-red, and iris crimson, in life. Young : Tail much as in adult. Upper parts 



» Falco pi umbena GiiEi,., S. N. i. 1788, 283. Ictinia phanhea Vieill,, Nouv. Diet. 1816, 24. 



29 



